"Sword Art Online" season 2 was aired on Toonami this past March and fans have been waiting for the third season ever since. However, When-Will.net posts that the third season may be pushed back to Summer 2016, and fans speculate that this may be caused by the announcement of an animated film in the works.
Season 3 was reportedly set to release by the end of 2015, although at this point there have been no announcements or trailers. Instead, all the media thus far has focused solely on the newly announced animated feature film.
According to a report from Anime News Network, a "Sword Art Online" film was announced during the Dengeki Bunko Autumn Festival 2015 event. However, the film will not be directly related to the anime series's characters and instead will follow a new story and characters most likely set in the same world as the anime series and light novels.
While no official release date or synopsis has been given at this point, the report states that more information regarding the film will be released in the next issue of Dengeki Bunko Magazine this Oct. 10. It is likely that the issue will reveal the film's release date, plot details and characters.
Series creator Reki Kawahara has stepped in to write the film's story while series' director Tomohiko Ito and character designer Shingo Adachi will also be working on the film. Because of their involvement, it is likely that production on season 3 has been pushed back as their efforts are currently focused on the animated feature.
Fans speculate that the third season will be an adaptation of the "Underwold" story arc, which sees the characters enter an AI simulation instead of an online game. The characters are dropped in a Renaissance-themed world where they are tasked to build their own region using new technology.
